Capital controls to end in January 2014

PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades said in an interview with Bloomberg in Nicosia yesterday that Cyprus will lift restrictions on the movement of capital in January 2014.

In the interview the president stressed that his administration’s goal is to create the necessary conditions for growth to successfully deal with the problem of unemployment and to stabilize the financial monetary system.

“The goal right now is to create the conditions for growth and tackle the serious problem of unemployment, to stabilize the financial system,” Anastasiades said. “The controls are being lifted. They will end within a timeframe of January 2014.”

The lifting of capital controls will come as welcome news to those who have managed to sell their properties on the island but who have been unable to repatriate the total proceeds to their home countries.